The theme of President Putin’s second day of his visit to China is trade and economic cooperation.
China has become a key partner for Russia as it seeks to cushion the impact of sanctions imposed by the United States and other countries.
China has repeatedly denied allegations that it supplies arms to Russia.
“What is not happening is China providing actual weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview with BBC News.
But China has been accused of strengthening Moscow’s war machine by providing critical components.
“These are being used to support Russia in an extraordinary short-term effort to produce more ammunition, tanks, armored vehicles, and missiles,” Blinken said.
He added that about 70% of machine tools and 90% of microelectronics imported by Russia come from China.
Beijing exports more than $300m (£237m) abroad An analysis of Chinese customs data by the Carnegie Endowment think tank shows that the equivalent of dual-use items used for both commercial and military purposes are exported to Russia every month.
The list includes items the U.S. has designated as “high priority” needed to make weapons, from drones to tanks, the report said.
The UK-based think tank RUSI has also warned of the potential use of Chinese satellite technology. For intelligence operations on the front lines of Ukraine.
After Western countries imposed sanctions on Russia, Beijing also became a major supplier of cars, clothing, raw materials and many other products to Moscow.
Trade between China and Russia reached a record $240bn (£191bn) in 2023, according to official Chinese figures, an increase of more than 64% on 2021, the year before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
